The Dream
by Romansu Neko
Summary: After a drunken mishap, Iruka has a naughty dream about Kakashi and himself. Now Iruka struggles to find the meaning of this dream while attempting to act 'normal' around Kakashi by means of avoiding him alltogether, but the fates are against poor Iruka!
1. The Dream

Disclaimer:

This story contains delicious yaoi. Mmm. That means boy on boy love. Don't like it? Then I suggest you don't read this story. Also, I don't own any of these characters, unfortunately. No, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Also, I have recently gone over the chapters in this story that have already been written, and I've done some serious revising. Yup, it's slightly less crappy. Nothing big has really changed though, so you don't really have to re-read all of this if you don't feel up to it. I recommend re-reading though, because I feel it's significantly less sucky. Thanks everyone!**

**---------**

Iruka couldn't remember when Kakashi had entered the bar, or when exactly he had decided to occupy the empty barstool next to him. All he could remember was turning around to see the silver haired copy-nin staring at him with a greatly amused look in his eyes.

"Whadare you lookin' at, Hatake?" Iruka demanded, his words so slurred together that he was difficult to understand. Clearly he'd had a little too much sake.

"How long have you been here, Umino?" Kakashi asked, his voice bland an emotionless as usual. As he waited for Iruka to gather his thoughts enough to respond, he raised a gloved hand. The bartender brought him a small glass of sake.

"That's nona yer business," the brown-eyed chunin finally mumbled in response, then turned his attention back to the sake sitting on the bar table before him.

"You've been here all night, _every night_, for the past week, Umino," Kakashi pointed out, pushing his empty cup away.

Iruka didn't ask how he knew where he'd been every night for the past week, but instead demanded, "Why do you care, Copy-nin?" He hiccupped. "I'm single, I don't have anyone to go home to, I can stay out all I want," He added defiantly.

"Iruka," Kakashi mumbled, moving his face closer to Iruka's so that they were mere inches apart. "You desperately need to get laid."

The chestnut-haired academy teacher smelled the scent of sake breath snaking through the Kakashi's mask, and he furrowed his brow, trying to think of something clever to say, but by the time he thought of something, there was a 'poof', and the copy-nin had disappeared, leaving a confused and very drunk Iruka to stare blankly at the butt-less barstool.

_I need to…get laid?_ Iruka thought. He was mildly disgusted at Kakashi's audacity. His sex life was no one's business but his own. It wasn't something he was open to discussing.

_How long HAS it been though, since the last time? _Iruka mused, pushing the empty sake glass across the table.

_Eh, it doesn't matter. Kakashi was wrong. I'm fine. Not like HE'S taking girls home every night. But what if he IS right? _ Umino thought, hiccupped, then shook his head. With his current state of mind, he'd never be able to think clearly, so it wasn't even worth trying. Instead he thrust his hand into his pocket, pulled out enough money to pay for both Kakashi's drink and the several drinks that he himself had downed, and stumbled out of the bar.

Only pieces of the last few minutes floated around in his head as he wandered home, and by the time he reached his apartment and collapsed onto his futon, only two words stood out in the big colorful blur that was his memory of that evening: 'Kakashi' and 'laid'. The words swam in his head as his eyelids grew heavy and he passed out.

"Iruka," Kakashi mumbled to the academy teacher. "You desperately need to get laid,"

The scar-nosed chunin inhaled a heavenly smell of roses and musk as his masked companion moved his face so close to Iruka's it was almost uncomfortable. Then Kakashi slowly pulled himself onto Iruka's lap, sitting on the chunin man with his legs wrapped around Iruka's waist and his arms around his neck.

The chunin lifted a hand and gently pulled the fabric mask from the silver haired ninja's face. Kakashi was ungodly beautiful…he had perfectly chiseled features, soft eyes, and unfairly tempting lips. Before Iruka could make a move, those same luscious lips were upon him, kissing his jaw…mouth…neck…

"How long has it been Iruka-kun?" Kakashi whispered in the teacher's ear, his voice husky and dripping with lust. Iruka managed only a whimper in response.

His body was burning and Kakashi was now nibbling on his earlobe.

"How long, Iruka?" the copy-ninja whispered again, grinding his hips against Iruka, who…

…Sat straight up in bed, sweat dripping down his face and causing his clothes to cling to his shaking body.

_What…the hell…was _that_?_ Iruka thought as he cradled his head in his hands.

_I've had sex dreams before…but…never with a man…never with _Kakashi…

For several moments all Iruka could do was stare wide-eyed at the wall in front of him, wishing his heart would stop racing and wishing that he had never fallen asleep in the first place.

_Iruka…don't panic…you worry too much. Dreams are…dreams are just dreams, they don't mean anything…they don't mean anything at all…_

When the chunin had succeeded in comforting himself enough to stop shaking, he rose from his bed and stumbled to the bathroom to relive himself of the bulge that had grown in his pants.


	2. Sleepless Night

Iruka was shaking again by the time he returned to his bed and slipped back under the beige sheets. He tried to convince himself that he was only quivering and sweating again because he had just whacked off and not because the dream had any effect on him.

_Yeah…it was just a dream; it didn't mean anything at all,_ He thought.

Deep down though, he simply couldn't believe that there wasn't any meaning behind it. Iruka was somewhat superstitious, you see. He avoided walking under ladders, was extra careful around salt shakers, and, above all, he always paid extra close attention to his dreams. If he dreamed he was attacked by a fish, he'd remove the animal from his diet altogether for the following week or so, figuring the sleep-vision meant he might eat a bad fish and become ill. If he had images in his sleep of all of his students failing his class at the academy and had to retake the whole year over again, (like his old student Naruto had done _several_ times,) he'd cancel the upcoming test and thoroughly review the most recent lesson so he could be certain that all of his students understood it perfectly. How on earth could he ever interpret this most recent dream, though? What did it mean? No matter how he tried there was no way he could brush it off as just another meaningless dream. Iruka groaned and clutched this head. This was all so confusing…and the ever popular hangover headache was already starting up.

_Get over yourself, Umino! You were totally plastered when you had 'the dream'! The alcohol was just messing with your mind. If Kakashi had told you to quit being a ninja and become a cowboy you'd probably have dreamt he was a horse, and that Cowboy Iruka was riding him all over Konoh-_

Iruka groaned again, his face slowly reddening. That thought wasn't the best….riding Kakashi was _not_ an image he needed right now, of all times. The chunin heaved a heavy sigh and rolled over under the sheets, burying his face in his pillow.

---------

It took an hour for poor Umino Iruka to fall back to sleep, and the moment he did Kakashi reappeared and began climbing all over Iruka, showering him with passionate kisses. Once again the brown haired ninja woke up suddenly, sitting straight up in bed, with sweat dripping from his tan brow.

_Again? Ugh, this can't be good…_

Iruka let out a frustrated, "ARGH!" and covered his face with his hands.

All throughout the rest of the night the teacher drifted in and out of sleep; image after image of Hatake Kakashi, wanton as a brothel girl, haunted his brain making Iruka more and more aroused until finally, and hour before he usually got up for work, the chunin woke up as horny as a cat in heat, unwilling to close his eyes again in fear that the Sharingan-using sex god would appear again.

"I need a shower…" Iruka grumbled, heaving himself out of bed and hurrying into the bathroom.

---------

Author's Note:

Yeah, it's short…sorry.


	3. Stupid Coffee

"Umino! UMINO!"

Iruka's eyes sprung open as someone calling his name roused him from his exhausted daze. All too suddenly reality hit him full force and his head returned to throbbing while the clock of the mission report room ticked painfully loud and ungodly slow.

"Jesus, Umino! Those damn kids must have run you ragged! You look like shit!"

Iruka slowly turned to look at the ninja sitting next to him. The only other person in the room, in fact. It seemed the others on mission report duty had left, as it was a terribly slow day today.

"Gee, thanks Genma." The tan chunin muttered sarcastically. The other man shrugged and went back to staring at the door to the report room. Umino sighed and allowed his brown eyes to slowly make their way back to the clock on the wall that he'd been staring at all day. In all honesty, he wasn't surprised by Genma's comment. He certainly _felt_ like shit, it only made sense that he'd _look_ like it too.

It'd been almost a week since that fateful dream night, and every day since that horrid experience he'd done his best to avoid the Copy-nin. Though he honestly had no clue how often he ran into Kakashi during one single day until he needed to keep away from him all together. On the streets, on the way to work, when he was heading home, the market…it seemed as though Kakashi was everywhere, ready to send a happy eye crease and a friendly wave Iruka's way. Unfortunately, all Iruka could manage in return was a quick nod before scurrying off, his face as red as the silver haired jonin's Sharingan eye. Luckily Kakashi hadn't been to the local bar at all since the dream night. Unlike Iruka of course, had been to that bar every damn night, hoping alcohol would knock him into a state of dreamless sleep, or at least forget the Kakashi dream completely. He had no suck luck, unfortunately. In fact, the dream continued to haunt Iruka, leaving him exhausted from lack of sleep and terribly hung over all of the next day. It was no wonder he 'looked like shit' now. Worst of all, the chunin couldn't stop thinking of Kakashi. He truly began questioning himself, wondering if he'd thought of the jounin this much _before_ the dream and didn't realize it, or if it was because of the dream that he thought of him so much.

"Hey, why don't you go get some coffee from the break room?" Genma suggested. The scar nosed ninja nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds good." He agreed, hoisting himself to his feet.

"Good. Get me one too, since you're going." Genma grinned, lifting his legs to rest them on the desk before him. Iruka smiled slightly and nodded as he stumbled like a zombie from the room.

_Maybe coffee will help me get rid of this damned head ache…_ He thought as he meandered down the long quite hallway that lead to the break room, which was equally as empty as the mission report room and, well, the rest of the building. Iruka made his way to the coffee pot and grabbed a pair of disposable cups that sat in a stack next to it. He began pouring some of the hot liquid into each. The steam that wafted up was soothing at first…so very hot and steamy…just like Kakashi…

"ARGH!" Iruka cried out, tempted to slam his head into a wall repeatedly. "None of those thoughts! None of those!" He exclaimed, then stormed out of the room.

"Damn Genma and his stupid coffee…" He growled as he approached the mission room door.

"Next time go get your own damn cof-" He began to complain as he entered the room, but was cut off as he nearly ran right into Hatake Kakashi who just so happened to be leaving at the same time.

Kakashi pulled his hand from his pocket and waved, adding a "Yo." in greeting.

Iruka struggled to maintain the hold of the cups of coffee in his hands.

"Oh…uh, h-hi Kakashi..." He greeted, trying to be as friendly as he could. He already felt his face turning beet red.

"H-how was your…uh…ya know, mission?" He asked, smiling nervously. He wished desperately that Kakashi would simply do one of his ever famous shrugs and 'poof' out of the room.

"Oh, you know, the usual," Kakashi began.

_Shit shit shit! Just leave, please!_ Iruka begged mentally, finding it harder and harder to keep from going hysterical.

"Oh?" Iruka responded simply to the beginning of Kakashi's tale.

"Yeah…Naruto whined non-stop about having to chase the cat again, Sasuke told him to shut up, they fought the whole time…" The copy-nin sighed. "And of course Sakura swooned over Sasuke the whole time. How those three ever passed my first test is beyond me," He said, sweat dropping.

"Oh, uh, yeah…I think…uh…yeah…" Iruka mumbled, chuckling slightly.

"Anyway, I'll see you later," The silver haired jonin said. He turned and nodded once to Genma, then Iruka, and left the room. Iruka released a huge sigh of relief.

"What was that about, Umino? You looked like you were scared of Hatake or something." Genma teased with a sly look. The scar nosed chunin shot him a death glare before plopping one of the cups of coffee down in front of him.

"Hey! Watch it!" Genma muttered.

Iruka rolled his eyes as he took his own seat.

_Ugh…I don't imagine it was a good thing that I wanted to jump Kakashi's bones right then and there…_ Iruka thought, and slammed his head into the desk.

---------

_I wonder what was up with Iruka?_ Kakashi wondered as he left the Mission Report building.

_He seemed terribly uncomfortable…_ He arched a brow, then with a look of dawning understanding in his eyes, he stopped dead in his tracks.

_You don't think he knows…_ He mused, brows furrowing slightly.

_No no… there's no way that can be true. Ah well. I guess only time will tell._

And with that, Hatake Kakashi shrugged and pulled an orange book out of his pocket.

---------

Author's Note: Ah, thank goodness…it seems like these chapters are getting less and less crappy…xD I'll have them all re-written in no time.


	4. A Wish your Heart Makes

For the past few weeks that he'd been 'suffering' from the dream, Iruka's lessons at the academy had been very easy for the students. He felt horrible letting the kids slack off, but he was beyond exhausted and so stressed out that he could barely keep from going bonkers. At this point, the school day was almost over, and he was close to passing out on his desk, so for the last half hour of class he'd stuck his students with an essay and told them they had free time to work on it.

As Iruka jabbed himself in the back of his hand with a pencil to stay awake, he heard a tiny voice from the front row of the class.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you're faaaast asleeeeeep…." Moegi was softly singing to herself as she wrote. Iruka groaned aloud, resisting the urge to throw chalk at her and instead slammed his head into his desk. However he couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth behind these lyrics.

"Uh…Umino Iruka? Is there a problem?" A rather deep voice said.

Iruka's head shot up and he found himself staring at one of the Hokage's assistants.

"Hm? No, uh...no problem," The teacher muttered, adjusting his headband. "Can I help you with something?" He asked. The assistant nodded.

"Yes. The Hokage wishes to see you in his office," The ninja said in an official voice.

"Oh, uh, I see. I wonder why the Hokage wants to see _me_…" The scar nosed chunin thought aloud. "Well, class will be over in about 30 minutes, tell the Hokage I'll be there as soon-"

"No," The assistant interrupted. "I'm afraid the Hokage has asked that you come to his office right away. He's assigned a substitute to take your place for the last part of class." He said, motioning to a young woman Iruka hadn't noticed before, who was already walking up and down the aisles of desks helping any students who required it.

"Oh…A-aright. I'll be leaving then," Iruka said, bowing his head to the assistant before leaving his classroom.

"The _Hokage_? Wants to see _me_? Wow…this is unusual…" He muttered to himself as he hurried out of the academy building and made his way to the Hokage's building via rooftop.

He arrived at the door of the Third Hokage's office quickly, and knocked.

"Come in," Demanded an old yet extremely important voice. Iruka timidly pushed the door open and bowed.

"Hokage-sama. You wished to see me?" The Chunin asked.

"Ah yes, come in Iruka. Take a seat." The Hokage pointed to one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk that he sat at. Iruka nodded, and did as he was told.

"Alright Iruka, I know this is going to sound strange... Usually I wouldn't call Academy teachers for these jobs, as it's important that students get the best teaching we can offer. But I'm afraid we have no choice. You are clearly the best ninja for this mission."

_Mission?_ Iruka thought. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been called for a mission…probably not since he started his training to be a teacher.

"You see, on the other side of the Fire County is a small, almost unheard of village, in which three very special children are being hidden. These children are orphans, and no one knows where they came from, but they have very…_powerful_ bloodline abilities. They were kidnapped by some rouge ninja about a month ago, and were just recently recovered. I've discussed the matter with the elders and the other Kages, and we think it best that the children be taken to Konoha where they can be protected and trained to use these unique bloodlines in a…'productive' manner. At least, until we can decide upon permanent plans for them, that is. Unfortunately, there's no way we can move them without the risk of being attacked by the kid's previous abductors. This is no doubt a dangerous mission that I should be sending a team of Jounin or ANBU to complete, but we can't risk scaring the children. We can't be reminding them in any way of their abductors or they won't trust us," He explained. "So I've decided to send a small team of two, and you are one of the ninja chosen." The Hokage said, resting his hands on his desk.

Iruka's confusion was written all across his face.

"I understand, but may I ask why I have been chosen? I mean, Academy teachers are rarely chosen for missions." He pointed out.

"I'm glad you asked," The Hokage said with a soft smile. "I've seen you with your students, Iruka. You are excellent with kids, and they tend to gravitate towards you and trust you immediately. I felt it would be best to have you go so that the children will know they can trust us. We need you as a big brother figure." He explained.

Iruka nodded.

"Yes sir. I'm honored that you have selected me for this mission." He said, bowing his head. "Oh, may I ask who will be joining me? You said you were sending a team of two."

"I'll be sending a Jounin with you. Exactly who has yet to be decided, but I feel that will be enough to protect the children and get them back to the village." The Hokage said.

"Yes Hokage-sama." Iruka said and once again nodded.

"Good. I'm glad you're ready for this. Please be at the village gate tomorrow morning at six o'clock. You're mission partner will meet you there. And don't worry about your classes; I've already assigned an adequate substitute who will keep your students on your lesson plan." Hokage explained.

Iruka stood, and bowed.

"Yes Hokage-sama." He repeated, bowed, and left.

_Wow, my first mission in ages! I'm thrilled! It's always nice to get out of the village once in a while. Maybe this mission will help me forget about the damn dream…_ Iruka thought as he hurried home to pack his gear and prepare for the next morning.


	5. Thoughts of Mutilated Bodies and Sex

On the morning of his mission, Iruka woke bright and early, feeling refreshed and ready to go. That night had been the first night in weeks that he had been able to sleep with out the usual sexy Kakashi dream. Thanks to mysterious disappearance of said dream, he was able to sleep through the night without waking a single time to go 'relieve himself' of left over…erm, _dream feelings_. After getting dressed and making sure he had all his supplies packed and ready to go he locked up his small apartment and left, deciding that he'd go treat himself to breakfast at the Ichiraku Ramen Bar to celebrate his first mission in months and his first uninterrupted sleep in weeks.

"Wow, you're up awfully early Iruka-san. I didn't think the academy classes started for several more hours!" Ayame exclaimed as the scar-nosed chunin ducked his head under the streamers that hung in the entryway of the small restaurant.

"Heh, yeah...Actually, I've got a mission today. First one in quite a while." He explained as he waved to Teuchi who was already in the back getting the kitchen ready for the day and then took a seat.

"Oh, that's exciting!" Ayame smiled. "Anyway, will that be the usual?" She asked.

"Yeah, that'd be great." He said, taking off his pack and putting it on the chair next to him.

Ayame placed a large steaming bowl of deliciousness before Iruka, and he nodded in thanks.

_Fantastic! It seems everything is going back to normal…now maybe I can forget all those ridiculous thoughts about Kakashi. Though, I suppose…I really wouldn't mind if…it were really too…_

Iruka shook his head to rid himself of those thoughts and began to munch on the tasty ramen before him.

_No…I think its best I avoid Kakashi altogether for a while. If I were to spend too much time around him the dreams would probably come back. Not only that, but it'd be incredibly awkward…ugh, what a nightmare._

Umino finished off his bowl and stood, laying the proper amount of money on the counter.

"Ah, that was great as usual Teuchi! Thanks!" Iruka waved as he left the restaurant, pack on his back, stomach full, and ready for a mission.

"Sure thing Iruka! We'll see you when you return from your mission!" The ramen chef smiled and waved back.

---------

_Sheesh, when is my partner going to get here?_ Iruka thought as he watched the sun creep up above the horizon. _We were supposed to leave 15 minutes ago…_

He sighed and shifted his weight to lean against a tree near the gates of Konoha.

_If I were paired up with Gai, he'd have been here before even me so he can't possibly be the one I'm waiting for. _The chunin mused. _Asuma and Kurenai are very punctual as well…so who-?_

Iruka's eyes widened. Suddenly thoughts of his favorite knuckle-headed ninja popped into his head. No more than a week ago he had been complaining to Iruka about his new team.

"_Ugh, Iruka-sensei! Could you get me transferred to a different genin team? I'm so sick of being with stupid Sasuke! He thinks he's so much better than me! And Sakura doesn't even acknowledge me! Why is she always so hung up on Sasuke? What does he have that I don't? And that Kakashi-sensei! He's ALWAYS late! We loose a lot of training time thanks to him! Why can't he ever be on time?"_

"Oh no…it…it can't be! No…he _can't_ be my partner for this mission!" Iruka muttered and began to panic, clutching his head.

"No! It CAN'T BE!" He growled, sliding to the ground. But as time ticked painfully away and the sun continued to rise, the truth became evident. Who but the famous copy-nin would be so incredibly late for a mission? The chunin was seriously considering just leaving and completing the mission by himself.

_I'll just hurry to the village, grab the kids and come back…no problem…I'll be back before Kakashi even gets here and-_

"Yo."

As Iruka squatted on the ground, cradling his head he felt chills go up his spine and down…'other places'.

"You alright Iruka?" Hatake Kakashi asked as he approached his current mission partner.

"Hn?" The chunin looked up, face redder than it'd ever been before. He wished his knees would quit shaking.

"Oh yeah…I'm…I'm fine. Just a little…uh…nervous. Yeah, I'm just nervous. First mission in months, ya know? And it's a…you know, important one too…" He muttered, hoping desperately that the Jonin standing before him would fall for such a lame excuse. Kakashi merely arched a brow.

"Ah, yeah. Understandable." He said with a nod. "Sorry for my lateness," He added. "I was on my way here when I saw a poor little puppy dying on the side of the road and-" Iruka didn't want to hear one of Kakashi's ever-famous excuses. He just wanted to leave, start the mission, run laps, _anything_ to get his mind off the copy-nin.

"Oh, uh, how kind of you, but I really think we need to go now. Ok? Ok." Iruka interrupted quickly, then scurried off down the road. Kakashi arched his (visible) brow again, shrugged, and stuck his hands in his pockets, heading off after the nervous wreck that was Umino Iruka.

_SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!_ Iruka was mentally screaming, wishing he could simply forget every inappropriate thought that was torturing him at the moment. All at once images of Kakashi kissing him, groping him, and taking him over and over again flooded him his head, making him rather dizzy. It took thoughts of nasty things, such as mutilated bodies, to keep 'himself' from making his pants uncomfortable. He clenched his fists at his sides and just kept walking.

Kakashi was simply watching Iruka with an incredibly amused look.

_Ha ha…so cute…_ He thought as he pulled Icha Icha Paradise from his vest pocket.

---------

Several hours earlier, a certain drunken ninja was just getting ready to finish off his last round of drinks before heading home. It had been a 'hard' day for him, and he'd gone to the nearest bar to drink away his imagined stress. Now it was three o'clock in the morning, and he wasn't anywhere near done yet. Currently, he was in the middle of spewing out a slurred story to anyone who would listen, which just so happened everyone sitting within twenty feet of this ninja. Apparently, the story being told was most interesting.

"I'm tellinya," Genma yelled out. "Unimo Ikura -hic- I mean… _Umino Iruka_ was moaning out Hakate, er…uh…_Hatake_ Kakashi's name when he -hic- fell asleep in the mission room!" He waved his hands about. "He was all, 'Ooooh, Kakaaaashiiii….yeaaaah…mmmmm…'" Genma moaned out in a mocking tone of voice that was meant to sound like Iruka's, then fell off his bar stool in a fit of giggles.

-----

Author's Note: Ha ha…you can imagine the kind of gossip Iruka's gonna come home to…xD


	6. Bad Start to a New Mission

The first part of the day went by rather nicely, and the sound of evening rolling around was very soothing Iruka decided. A childhood memory of the screams of innocent Konoha shinobi being torn apart and destroyed by the nine-tailed fox demon played over and over in his head. Though it pained him greatly and made his heart ache for the parents he lost, it kept his mind off of the amazing, god-like man who currently was walking at a leisurely pace a few steps behind the scar-nosed chunin.

Iruka figured that Kakashi had his nose buried in that 'Icha Icha' book again, but he didn't dare turn around to look. He knew the second he looked at Kakashi, he'd get a full blown replay of every dream he'd had in the past several weeks and he didn't need the temptation to fall to his knees and beg the jonin to take him right there would be unbearable.

_Alright…don't worry Iruka, this will all work out. Just keep your distance for one more day…we'll be at the village tomorrow evening and then you'll be so busy taking care of the kids you won't even have time to think about Kakashi…with his perfect skin…pouty lips…huge, hard- GAH! NO NO NO!_

Iruka almost screamed as he slammed his palm into his forehead.

Kakashi glanced up from his small orange book.

"You sure you're alright?" He asked. It wasn't everyday you saw Umino Iruka hit himself, let alone smack himself so hard that he even stumbled slightly.

Iruka sweat dropped and chuckled nervously. Just the sound of Kakashi's honey voice was making him start to shake again.

"Y-yeah…I'm fine…I just thought…uh, just thought I saw a bug on my forehead protector and wanted to, you know…swat it..." He lied quickly, still not daring to turn around and look at his current mission partner.

Kakashi arched a brow. Everyone knew he was the KING of lame excuses, and though that tarnished his reputation slightly, it also gave him certain benefits. For example, he knew how to make up a horrid lie on up on the spot, he could tell his tall tales without even breaking a sweat, and best of all he knew when someone was bullshitting him. Clearly Iruka was uncomfortable about something though, so instead of pushing the subject and calling his companion's bluff, he simply shrugged and returned to Icha Icha Paradise, letting the silence fall over the pair again.

Iruka would have been thrilled if Kakashi would suddenly decide he was upset with him, and decide that the silent treatment was in order. That way, they wouldn't have to talk again for the rest of the mission; maybe Iruka wouldn't even have to _look_ at him again. Or maybe he wouldn't even wait for the perfect moment to push Kakashi's buttons…maybe _Iruka_ could skip the middle man and simply stop talking to his companion…pretend he was mad…

_Yeah…I'll do that. Starting now I shall say no more._ Iruka decided.

Apparently his stomach disagreed with the plan and decided to betray him.

_Grrrrrroooooong….grooooooong…_ A loud growling sound erupted from the chunin's torso.

Kakashi looked up again and chuckled.

"Shall we rest for a while and eat?" He asked as he closed and pocked his Icha Icha book. Iruka stopped dead in his tracks and, still not turning to look at the silver haired copy-nin, he shook his head violently.

"N-no…that isn't a good idea…we need to get to the…the…uh…"

"Kids?" Kakashi finished. Iruka nodded slightly.

"Well, we _are _ahead of schedule really…and it's not good to push yourself Iruka, especially when your so..." The jonin paused, trying to remember the chunin's previous excuse. "'_Nervous'_ about your new mission. We need to be in the best of shape when we get the children so we can effectively protect them." He pointed out.

Iruka sighed. Kakashi was right; he was _starving_, and what with the stressful morning he was pretty tired as well and could definitely use a break. The tan man frowned, as he came to the realization that there was no way around it.

"Alright. Let's stop for just a little while." He reluctantly agreed and took a seat in front of a tree. Kakashi was pleased.

_Good…maybe once he has time to relax he won't be so upset…I wonder what crawled up his butt and died? He's been so high-strung the whole time…in fact; he's been on edge around me for weeks…_ The jonin pondered as he sat down no more than three or four feet away from his mission partner.

Kakashi watched as Iruka began to pull some small food pouches from his pack, and noticed how the chunin's skin seemed to glow in what little light the setting sun was able to cast through the thick canopy of trees overhead. The sharingan user furrowed his eyebrows, shook his head slightly and began to dig food out of his own bag. Once again, much to Iruka's delight, a silence fell over the two. At some point Kakashi had downed the disgustingly nutritious snack he had pulled out of his backpack.

Iruka wondered when he had done so, but was glad that he hadn't somehow caught a glimpse of the mysterious man's face for that would surely have sent him over the edge. Instead, he slowly ate the horrid, healthy paste-stuff, and then crunched on the rock-hard protein bar that he had packed. Once finished, Iruka leaned back against the tree he was sitting in front of and, as he picked pieces of rock-bar out from between his teeth with his tongue, he drifted into a light sleep.

Kakashi looked up from Icha Icha Paradise when he heard a soft snore come from his mission partner, followed by a very quite, almost inaudible moan.

"Are you oka-" He began to ask, but stopped when he realized that his companion had fallen asleep. The jonin nodded in contentment. He'd let Iruka sleep for maybe twenty minutes or so. Maybe a nap was what he needed to calm down and, after all, they _did_ have a _little_ time. Once again Kakashi's eyes were pulled back to the dirty stories in his book.

_Junko paused; watching as the woman danced and twirled, her kimono fluttering around. He tilted his head slightly and caught a glimpse of her luscious bottom. Instantly, he felt himself get har-_

"Mmm…Kakashi…"

The jonin sighed at the interruption.

"What is it, Iruka? I thought you were aslee-" Kakashi began to say as he glanced up from his book, but he trailed off.

"…Thought you were asleep…" He finished in a much quieter voice. "You _are_ still asleep…" He muttered, arching a brow curiously.

"Mmm….aaaaah…K-Ka…_Kakashi_…" Iruka moaned softly as he slept. "Kashi-kun…"

The silver haired jonin dropped his book.

"Kakashi…oh yes…Kakashi…yes…yes…_yes…_"

The copy-nin's mouth fell open so quickly it was a surprise that it didn't hit the forest floor. Iruka was definitely moaning _his_ name…that much was clear. It also seemed almost…_sexual_.

_No…nonsense. He spent all day with me. He's probably dreaming that…that we completed the mission. Yeah. That's it. Mission complete. He's happy. That's all._

Kakashi tried to reassure himself. He was even starting to believe it too, until Iruka mumbled again.

"…Love you…'Kashi…"

"Oh…uh…_wow_." The jonin mumbled and jumped to his feet. He felt the blood draining from his head and making its jolly way out his nostrils. He pinched the bridge of his nose in hopes of preventing the inevitable nose bleed and glanced around wildly for a private place to wait out the blood rush and regain control of his currently spinning head. Iruka was startled out of his sleep by the sudden movement and sounds of crackling leaves. He snorted and his eyes popped open. Upon seeing Kakashi in what could only be described as a panicked state, he leapt to his feet.

"Huh? What's going on? What's up?" He cried out. He tried to walk but only stumbled as he was still a little groggy.

"Oh, er… nothing..." Kakashi muttered. He glanced at Iruka then looked away very quickly, his visible eye very wide and his fingers pinching his nose even harder.

"I…uh, need to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." He sputtered, then quickly rushed off into the trees. Iruka's tense shoulders then slumped. He wondered what was up with Kakashi, but at the same time he was relieved that nothing was really wrong. He let his head hang slightly and he looked down, trying to blink away the drowsiness from his eyes.

"Oh craaap…" The chunin groaned, seeing the bulge in his pants before he actually felt it. Suddenly, visions of the most recent of dream attacked him at full force.

"Ugh…" Iruka moaned and squatted down, head between his knees. Once again he was forced to picture macabre situations and events in order to get himself back under control.

Meanwhile, Kakashi stood a good distance away, leaning up against a tree with his head cradled in his arms.

"This is going to be a loooong mission…" He muttered.

---------

Author's Note: I tried to get these characters back in line…make them act a little more like they would if this was actually part of the real story line…hopefully it's working.


	7. Happy Mr Man

_There's only one thing to do._ Hatake Kakashi thought to himself as he wiped dried blood away from his nose and hung his head to stare intently at the ground.

_My first priority is this mission. It has to be completed no matter what. And that's what's going to happen. We'll finish the mission. Forget the fact that Iruka is having sex dreams about me. Forget the fact that the very thought of him helpless and completely under my control just makes me-…_

Kakashi coughed and forced the thought from his head. He inhaled deeply, held his breath for a moment and then let it all explode from his lungs before pulling his mask back up over his face and heading back towards the area in which his mission partner was currently waiting, casually leaned up against a tree, trying to appear aloof. (The attempt was quite futile though, for his shoulders were tense and his brown eyes were glancing around wildly like those of a frightened horse.)

The second Iruka saw Kakashi pushing through the trees and underbrush he had to squeeze his eyes shut and take a deep breath.

_Mental note: get some pants that don't allow 'happy Mr. Man' to be so visible… _The chunin thought as he felt the blue fabric of his uniform pants ripple care-free in a passing breeze. Iruka shook his head slightly and opened his eyes.

"Listen, I-" The chunin began, knowing that he probably had to explain himself, but his brilliant excuse, (which involved a hot spring and many beautiful women,) was interrupted.

"Man, I _really_ had to go! Water really goes through you fast…" Kakashi said, forced humor in his voice. Apparently he felt the need to throw out an excuse as well.

_We'll just pretend none of this ever happened…_ The jonin thought.

Iruka laughed lightly and uncomfortably.

_You can do this Umino…you can do this…_ He assured himself. And surprisingly, he was right. At this point he was so busy worrying about the now full-blown attraction he held for Kakashi, and wondering if it was really The Dream that had brought it on that he actually didn't feel such a strong urge to jump his mission partner. This meant that, for the time being, Iruka was mostly under control and could attempt to act 'normal'. He was seriously starting to wonder if he'd ever be able to think 'straight' around Kakashi ever again, in either sense of the word.

"Ready to head off?" Iruka asked, trying his best to be his usual, chipper self.

"Hn? Oh…yeah." Kakashi agreed and nodded once before pulling the ever popular orange book out of his pocket to keep his mind off of his fellow Shinobi. Iruka didn't notice that Kakashi was a little more distracted than usual. Instead, he just praised himself for being able to control his unusually crazy hormones enough to keep from mounting Kakashi like a horse.

---------

"Wow…this place is a dump. How could anyone believe that this is a safe place for the children to sta-"

Iruka was cut off by the sharp ringing sound of metal on metal that echoed off the horribly old gate that marked the entrance to a tiny, rather insignificant village that seemed to be in a desperate state of disrepair. The chunin spun around just in time to see a kunai knife ricochet off said gate and clatter to the ground; clearly it had been deflected by another kunai.

"Thanks," Umino muttered to Kakashi and mimicked his companion by pulling out kunai of his own and taking a defensive stance. In another blink of an eye, the pair of Konoha shinobi were surrounded by four other shinobi who were clad in black.

"Identify yourselves!" Demanded one of the ninja, whose long black hair was pulled back into a pony tail.

"I am Umino Iruka and this is Hatake Kakashi. We are shinobi of Konoha, sent as an escort for the children you've got hidden in this village." Iruka announced in a 'we-mean-business' voice that surprised Kakashi a little bit. Who would have guessed that the laid back, almost _meek_ Academy Teacher could be so intense?

The black-clad ninja glanced at each other as if trying to decide whether or not these two new ninja were lying. One of the ninja, one with a face mask similar to Kakashi's, bright green eyes and hair of a matching color nodded once, and his fellow ninja relaxed instantly. Iruka and Kakashi held their defensive stances, still not sure that they could put any trust in these mysterious shinobi.

"Please forgive us for attacking you." The black pony-tailed ninja spoke, bowing slightly. His dark brown eyes flashed venomously. "You must understand; the children you have been sent to retrieve pose a huge security threat…we just want to stop any trouble before it happens."

Iruka didn't really trust the ninja or the apology, but to avoid any further conflict he nodded and put his weapons away.

"We understand." He said in a blank, emotionless voice.

Kakashi wordlessly tucked his kunai away and stood up straight.

"Come, we'll take you to the children straight away." The black haired ninja said. He beckoned to Konoha nin and together they passed through the gates and into the village.

---------

Author's Note: Darn these short chapters! I have to start writing longer ones…


	8. So close

The village where the children were being kept consisted of tiny shacks that were falling apart, a small street market that reeked of old fish and rotting fruit, and what could have once been a lovely mansion or palace which had long since been reduced to ruins.

_I bet this was once a lovely village run a feudal lord,_ Iruka thought as he followed the squad of Ninja who had met them at the village gates.

_The feudal lord was probably some sort of dictator and the citizens over threw him only to realize that they couldn't support themselves without him…_ He thought. _Or…or maybe the village was attacked, but the attackers realized that they'd gain nothing from ruling this village and left in in shambles…Or…_

Iruka kept coming up with different ideas as to why this village was in such horrible condition. He couldn't help it really; stuff like this fascinated him.

"So, tell me," The head ninja with the long black pony-tail spoke as he lead his squad of three other ninja and the two Konoha Nin through the run down village. "What ranks do you hold in your village?"

Upon being addressed, Iruka instantly forgot all his little stories about the village and looked up.

"Oh, er…I'm a chunin and-"

"I'm a retired jonin." Kakashi interrupted. Clearly Kakashi didn't trust this ninja squad enough to tell them his true status. He wanted them to underestimate him, just in case…well…just incase something happened. Iruka was only mildly surprised by Kakashi's lie, but he certainly didn't let it show. He just kept walking and staring ahead purposefully as if the sharingan-user had just pointed out that the sky was blue.

"Retired?" The pony-tailed ninja asked, turning to look back at Iruka as if asking him to explain.

_He suspects us of lying…why does he care?_ Iruka thought, but immediantly launched into an explanation.

"Yes, retired. I'm afraid my comrade was out on a mission in the land of mist with his genin team. The man who hired them lied and told them it would be a simple mission, but they were unexpectedly attacked by one of the seven swordsmen ninja of the mist and his companion, who was skilled in the use of senbon needles and held great knowledge in the chakra points of the body. Unfortunately, Hatake-san took several chakra-injected senbon needles to a very sensitive chakra point. Needless to say, his chakra levels have been halved." The chunin explained. Kakashi was impressed by his companion's quick lie.

_Clever Iruka. Very clever. You based the lie off of truth…_

The ninja with the long dark pony-tail arched an eyebrow and turned to glance at Kakashi as he walked.

"Is that so?" He asked. It was impossible to tell if he was questioning the fact if that was truth of if he simply wanted to hear more. Kakashi simply nodded.

"My strengths lied in Gen justsu and Nin jutsu that relied heavily on my chakra. Tai jutsu has never been a strong point. Without my usual chakra levels I'm simply not the ninja I used to be." Poor Hatake appeared to be genuinely depressed as he told his sob story.

"So I sort of retired now. I mostly run errands for Lord Hokage and do small missions here and there." He explained, shrugging half-heartedly. The squad leader furrowed his brows a bit, but seemed to accept the lie for he did not question the Konoha shinobi any further, and simply turned his head to look forward again, walking in the direction of one of the most run-down shacks in the entire village.

"Here we are!" One of the other ninja announced as he followed his pony-tailed leader into the tiny old building. Kakashi and Iruka exchanged a glance before following suit.

---------

Iruka noticed four things when he entered the run down shanty.

One: The extreme lack of light. This made him rather uneasy.

Two: The fact that they were now practically trapped in this small hut, what with there being no windows and only one door. This made him even more uneasy.

Three: There were eight more ninja in this place, all wearing the same uniform as the four who had 'met' Kakashi and himself at the gates.

Four: In the very center of the one-roomed shack sat three children who couldn't have been any older than his current students at the Academy.

"Allow me to introduce you to the current security threat of the village." The ninja with the ponytail said as he pointed at the children.

"This one is called Ryu." The leader said, pointing to the first of the two boys. He was very pale, but had flaming red hair that stood up at all angles and bright green eyes that smiled, despite all the horrible things that had happened to him. Ryu lifted a small, frail-looking hand and waved once.

"This one is Kazuki." The second boy the leader introduced didn't seem nearly as happy as his companion Ryu. He glared at the squad leader, yellow eyes flashing in anger, fists clenched at his sides. His hair was short and the brownish color of a moth and the way it hung, limp and dull on his head, matched his obvious attitude. He had a huge scar across his face.

"And this is Haruka." The leader said ignored Kazuki's glare and introducing the only girl. Just as her name suggested, she seemed to be distant, almost totally out of it. Her ghostly grey-blue eyes were literally glowing, and they just stared blankly straight ahead of her. She was a beautiful young girl however; she had rosy skin and soft lavender hair that hung down across her shoulders in bouncy ringlets. After the three kids had been introduced, the Konoha team bowed and introduced themselves as well.

"I am Umino Iruka."

"And I am Hatake Kakashi."

"We are here to escort you back to our village where you will be protected and educated by very skilled ninja." Iruka explained, his voice warm and face friendly.

Ryu grinned and laughed, clearly excited by the new adventure. Kazuki simply made Iruka the subject of his death-glare. (Kakashi wondered if the boy was seriously capable of making any other facial expressions.) Haruka however, simply stared into the space between Kakashi and Iruka.

Iruka could have sworn he felt something probing his mind…felt someone digging around, but the feeling was so faint that he couldn't be sure that the feeling was real at all, and even if it was really someone trying to read him. Whatever was happening, it wasn't probing too deep, just scratching the surface of his subconscious. It made him more curious than defensive.

After several long, silent, awkward moments during which everyone looked at the children as if wondering what to do, the young girl let out a tiny sigh. Instantly Ryu and Kazuki turned to look at their female companion with gentle yet expectant eyes. Haruka bowed her head and closed her eyes. When she looked up again, the glow in her eyes was gone and her face was no longer blank, but very lifelike.

She gave Ryu and Kazuki a meaningful look and smiled an adorable little smile, then started playing with a tiny cloth doll that sat at her feet. It was as if she had been in a trance before. Ryu grinned and watched her play while Kazuki went back to glaring at everyone around him. The two Konoha Ninja shared a questioning glance.

"Well, the sun's setting and you've met the children now, so why don't we show you to your sleeping quarters?" The pony-tail ninja said, almost eager to get the two Konoha ninja out of the shack and away.

"Sleeping quarters?" Iruka questioned.

The squad leader nodded.

"We don't recommend leaving tonight. You look tired. I can't imagine you could handle an ambush right now. The kids are safe here for one more night. Just take the night off." He said in an insistent tone and then called out to one of the young shinobi that made up his squad.

"Aki, take our fellow Shinobi to the Inn."

The young ninja who had cropped brown hair and big blue eyes bowed.

"Yes sir. Please follow me." He said to the Konoha nin, then left the shack. Iruka and Kakashi had no choice but to follow and they did just that.

Kakashi made sure that they were a good distance from the shack when he spoke to Aki.

"So, how long have you been working for the man with the ponytail?" He asked as he stuck his hands in his pockets. Iruka listened intently.

"Hm? Oh, you mean Jiro?" Aki asked, flashing a grin. "Oh, not very long. We had the children in my village for a while, just after they'd been rescued, you know? And just before we were about to attempt to move them to a safer place, Jiro and Goro just appeared and helped put this team together."

"Goro? You mean the man with the green eyes and face mask?" Iruka asked.

Aki nodded once.

"Yeah, they just appeared and said they were from this village, and had come to help us bring the children here. They said that they didn't need more than a fair-sized team of chunin. So myself and nine others were put together. Most of us just recently became chunin." He admitted. "But we trust Jiro and Goro. They're very kind to us. Well, Jiro is at least. Goro doesn't ever really talk. But he gave us these really neat uniforms! They're made of really nice silk!" Aki said, running his hand down the sleeve of the black uniform.

"Hm. How very…thoughtful." Kakashi muttered.

Aki nodded in agreement.

"Well, here we are!" He announced as they approached the least run-down of all the buildings in the village. In front of it there was a huge sign nailed to a post that read 'Inn'.

"We've prepared two rooms for you already, and-"

"Two rooms? Do you think there's a chance we could share a room? Two beds of course. We need to prepare plans for the return journey you see." Kakashi interrupted.

"Hm? Oh…yeah, I suppose that won't be a problem! Let me go talk to the manager of the Inn and see what we can do." Aki said and ran into the building.

The two were silent as they stood outside and waited. Iruka was running the events of the day over and over again in his head. Clearly he wasn't the only one who suspected something weird was going on; Kakashi was obviously rather suspicious as well. They had a lot to discuss, so it was good that they would be sharing a roo-…

_KAKASHI AND I ARE SHARING A ROOM? Oh SHIT._ Iruka screamed in his head. He found it difficult to keep himself from snapping his own neck right then and there to end the unbearable sexual tension that was already building. Any sense of calm that he had before had gone out the window. Luckily Aki returned before Iruka could do anything.

"Alright, all set! The manager had a room with two beds in it. Here's the key for ya." He said. The chunin held out a violently shaking hand and took the room key from Aki who then bowed and started walking back the shack where the children were being held.

"Wait! Aki!" Kakashi yelled out. The young ninja stopped quickly and spun around.

"Yes Kakashi-Sempai?" He asked.

"Listen…I'm not saying anything is going to happen…but if anything unusual occurs at all…if anyone…_disappears_…even if their own your own squad…I need you to inform us immediately." Kakashi ordered in a firm 'no crap' voice.

Aki arched a brow in confusion, but decided not to question this official-sounding ninja.

"Uh, hai!" He said, throwing in another quick bow and then took off again towards the shack. Iruka watched him run off, then glanced at Kakashi who was already walking into the Inn.

---------

"H-Here we are…r-room 7…" Iruka muttered as he and Kakashi approached the room they were to be occupying that night. Kakashi nodded once. From the outside he appeared to be his usual calm self, but inside his brain was churning.

_This is gonna be tough…_ He was thinking, but he certainly wasn't referring to the suspicious Jiro and Goro and the mission.

_If Iruka has a dream about me again tonight, I'm not sure what I'll do…what if it's not just a dream after all? What if there's more too it and he really feels that way? What if-_

"Kakashi? Kakashi!" Iruka interrupted and the copy-nin's half closed eyes snapped open. His train of thought had been derailed.

"Hm? Oh, sorry." Hatake muttered and entered the room, which was a rather nice considering the condition of the rest of the village. It was small so the two beds were rather close together and there was a bathroom contained only a toilet and stand-up shower stall that had barely enough room for one person to squeeze into.

"So, clearly I'm not the only one who is getting bad vibes from that Jiro guy." Iruka muttered, flopping down on one of the beds. He had to focus on the mission to keep his mind off…well, off _other_ things.

Kakashi shook his head.

"No," He agreed. "There's no way that 'Jiro and Goro' could just _happen_ to show up and _happen_ to choose a team of inexperienced, young and impressionable ninja…but we simply can't run around making accusations. We're just going to have to let everything play out and stay alert." He said, sitting down on his own bed.

Iruka sat up.

"You're right. We'll have to be very careful too. It's quite clear that, whether they be friend of enemy, Jiro and Goro are very suspicious of us." He said. Kakashi nodded in agreement, and a silence fell over the two.

Iruka tried his best to keep his mind on the task at hand, but it was proving difficult. He just needed to get away from Kakashi and clear his head. He needed to re-focus on the mission and purge the lust that was building up inside of him.

"Uh, if you'd excuse me, I think I'm going to make use of that shower." Iruka said, rushing into the bathroom and sliding the door shut with a bang behind him. Kakashi was really not all too upset that Iruka had left, for his mind was as focused on the mission as Iruka's was.

_Ugh…this is so not good…_ He thought as he smashed a pillow over his face.

_I…I have to do something…I really must….but…I need to concentrate on the mission too…and…ARGH!_

This was the first time in a LONG TIME Hatake Kakashi could remember being so hugely confused and flutter brained, _especially_ during a mission. He simply didn't know what to do. Half of him wanted to burst into the bathroom and tell Iruka that he had the option to make his dreams reality…but the other half of him knew that now wasn't the time to be making any life changing confessions of love. With a heavy sigh, Kakashi pulled off his vest, headband, shirt and shoes then sprawled out on his back across his bed eyes closed, letting sort of a half-sleep take him over.

You can imagine the sight Iruka got as he exited the bathroom in only his uniform pants and shirt; shirtless Kakashi, breathing slowly and heavily, laid out in a delicious position across his bed. Iruka nearly passed out right then and there, but instead he managed to rush to his own bed, jump under the covers, and pull them over his head in attempt to block the outside world.

---------

"Kakashi…mmmm…Ka-kakashiiii…."

The copy-nin's eyes snapped open. All he could do was simply lay there, listening to his companion purr and moan his name as he tossed and turned in a passion-laden sleep. Kakashi never thought it was even possible to get a hard-on so damn fast, and he winced. Unlike Iruka, he was grateful for the loose uniform pants because there was nothing worse than having some stupid stiff fabric like jeans press and restrain an already somewhat painful erection. Slowly Kakashi turned to look at his mission partner in the bed over. The scar-nosed chunin had kicked half his blankets off and was lying in what could only be described as a lewd pose; sprawled on his back with legs out to either side of him. He seemed to have pitched his own (_decently sized_, Kakashi thought,) tent under the midsection-covering blanket.

Kakashi groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"I can't do this…I just…I can't do this anymore…" He grumbled, and with the skill that came with his being one of the most amazing ninja in Konoha, he slipped out of bed without a sound and padded silently over to Iruka. He felt strange just standing over the younger man and watching him as he squirmed and moaned under an invisible body. The copy-nin felt his breathing coming in short, heavy pants and his heart started racing. Slowly he bent over, his face just inches from Iruka's. Kakashi then slowly lifted a hand to his mask, tucking his fingers under the fabric and gingerly pulled it away from his face. The younger of the two became more active as Kakashi's warm breath danced across his face. The now unmasked man nearly leaped on Iruka right then and there as his moans became more desperate and wild.

"I can't do this anymore…can't deny it…I must…I must…" Kakashi whispered, his voice hoarse. Then slowly, _ever so slowly,_ he began to close the small distance between Iruka's face and his own. He swore he could already feel the tenderness of the younger man's tender lips; he could imagine the feel of Iruka's supple, plump tongue warring with his own in a desperate kiss that would mark the release of so much pent-up sexual tension. Their lips were just a hairs width away…so close to connecting…so close…

_**BAM!**_

Instantly Kakashi's mask was back in place and he was upright again, spinning around to stare at the door which had been swung open with great force. Standing in the doorway was Aki, who, like any good ninja was trained to do, instantly took in all the details, which happened to include a very startled Kakashi and Iruka (who had awoken instantly), both obviously _very_ aroused.

"Um…did I interrupt something?" Aki asked, looking incredibly uncomfortable.

"No Aki, no you did not." Kakashi said in a firm voice that demanded that no questions about what he saw were to be asked. Aki nodded.

"Yes Sempai."

"What do you need Aki?" Iruka asked.

"You told me to come see you if anyone disappeared and…well…Jiro and Goro…they're…well…_they're gone_."

---------

Author's Note: Ah, finally a nice long chapter. Oh, the tension is unbearable. But you'll just have to bear it anyway. :)


End file.
